WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?

Althea Francois

Althea Francois joined the Black Panther Party in New
Orleans in 1970 as a community worker. She was 19 years old
and attended her first political education class at the
Piety St. office. At one of the political education
meetings, it was announced that there were two undercover
police present. People from the community identified them
and then ran them out. This incident led to the first raid
on the Party office. After the office was raided, Althea
called Central Headquarters, and was directed to reopen the
office. By the end of the next day, the office was open and
functioning.

Althea’s functions included soliciting for funds for the
Party, the Liberation School, and visiting political
prisoners arrested during the raid.

Althea survived the second raid on the office in the Desire
projects. During that time, she worked in the Sickle Cell
Research Center. She came to California in 1972 to work on
Bobby Seale’s mayoral campaign. She worked at the West
Oakland Center where some of her functions included selling
papers, collecting donations and she was the health officer
for the West Oakland office. Althea also registered many
people to vote during Bobby’s campaign. She also was a cook
at the Lamppost Restaurant.

Since Althea left the Party, she continues to educate and
organize. She is on the board of the Prison Activist
Resource Center, a key member of the New Orleans Chapter of
the National Coalition to Free the Angola 3, and she is an
organizer for Critical Resistance South. She is also a
mother, and is helping to raise her grandchildren.